Solo Eisenhower tower regular route and direct buttress. Did Dragons Back start(like a fairy tale wonderland) and also did the bypass chimney/gulley start. Did both variations above the lower wall. The funnest part though was the hut and the approach to the hut. Awesome position. Better not be stumbling around in the dark outside the hut though it sits just 7 ft from the edge of a 1,000ft vertical cliff.

Did Brewer Buttress w/ Bri S. Great route but the approach was un-necessarily difficult. The far right path from the fire lookout is NOT the path of least resistance. Take the most beat in looking path as this is what the guides use and will take you to the 4th class slab and easy walking paths beyond to the hut. We took the far right and paid for it. Approx 2.5hr approach
Route was pretty obvious once we found the start; super fun climbing but lots of loose blocks to beware of.
Finished out the day as we started - namely by taking the wrong descent gully. Pay close attention to the beta. We got suckered into the wrong one by sighting a rap station (ancient pins festooned with ancient faded dead webbing.) Eventually brought us down to Goat Plateau where we found the fabled 'guides path' we should have hiked up on the approach.
Despite the setbacks - RECOMMENDED!

Fun climb. The most memorable part of this day was losing my jacket/camera on the hike out. I left a note with my home ph # at the trailhead. Someone called and left me a msg with a return ph #. I called from the Banff Hostel only to find the guy with my jacket on a cell phone about 20 feet behind me at the hostel! He wouldn't even let me buy him luch. Gotta love Canadians!

In our continued quest for something less than a 16+ hour day out, Bill Nootens and I decided to take advantage of a forecast weather window to run up Brewer's Buttress.

We planned to do the route, then stay at the hut and walk down the following morning, so we carried some extra weight up to the hut. The approach was interesting, but very easy to find. We took less than 2.5 hours despite our big packs. After a short nap, food, and repacking at the hut, we took off for the climb. We started roped climbing at 10:00 am.

The rock was generally good, and Dow's route description is spot on and very useful (though we still wonder if he meant "left" instead of "right" in his description of the last pitch). Bolted belays all the way. You don't need double ropes to bail off the route (I don't think--we had a 70m rope, and never hit the halfway mark on a single pitch).

It was a chilly, cloudy day, despite the forecast for sunshine. We wore all of our clothes almost the entire time. The climb went fast (5 hours), and for once we were on schedule on a climb in our Rockies tour.

But that didn't last long. We got confused about finding the descent gully. We ended up descending a gully that was waaaaay past the correct one. It was a steep, loose class 3 chute that spit us out on Goat Plateau (no raps) in unknown territory. Nobody seems to go to that end of the mountain, and there was no use trail along the plateau. That made for some very tedious and tiring traversing of steep scree above huge drops. I figure we were about a mile north of the hut.

After what seemed like an eternity, we finally found the hut. The forecast for the next day was for rain, and I insisted that we bail on staying in the hut and head down right then. I didn't want to risk the descent in the rain, with 2000+' of loose crap poised above us, just waiting for the flimsiest excuse to come flying down. Bill agreed, and we headed down after a short food/caffeine replenishment. A 15 hour day car-to-car. It would have been much less if we hadn't carried the extra overnight gear, and had found the correct descent gully.

Mary and I climbed this on our trip from Calgary to Sacramento in 2008. We went to the lovely (but expensive) Castle Mountain Hut and had a nice evening there. Left the hut at 6AM and started climbing at 7AM. We took about 5 hr to climb the route. The walk to the descent gully was covered in snow which was waist deep and the consistency of mashed potatoes. The initial part of the descent went smoothly, but the lower gully was full of snow with water gushing underneath. There was a huge moat before the giant chockstone with unsupported snow above. We couldn't find the rappel anchor...probably buried under the snow. So we left a piece of gear and got down to easy ground. Back to the hut and then to the car before the rain started. All around a very involved objective with the 4th class approach and the tricky descent. Excellent climbing on the route.

Left parking lot at 11AM; soloed most all of the route. Crux spots are the crack up to the dragon's back and the small dip right after, not much at all. 4 raps on the way down mixed with downclimbing and a traverse over to the hut. Great weather!

Pedro Espina and I climbed the Brewer's Buttress route in summer of 2003. We went from the parking lot to the hut, dropped off our sleeping bags and stuff, then did the route and came down and slept in the hut. Our plan was to climb Bass Buttress the next day, but the descent gully was so dangerous that we didn't want to have to get in there again. I couldn't believe that descent - it was basically riding down on top of a rockslide. I'll never do that again. It's a shame, because the route was fantastic. We only did one rap at the bottom of the descent, and I notice that someone else here did "5 mini raps". Maybe we went down the wrong way? We were following the guidebook. Oh well, it's all part of the adventure...

With Peter Valchev, only took 2 hours to get to hut the night before, ACC says 3-5….hardly worth the hut except for the experience of it, cool little place. On the route 5.5 hours, got lost in the snow on the summit in regards to descent. That sucked. 5 mini raps down once we found it. The 5.6+ and the last pitch which was the best two of the day. Neither were very difficult. We did the route in 10 vs 13 pitches. Super weather.

Did Brewer's Buttress with Dow on the day after a snowstorm went through. We spent the night at the bivy hut (it is less than a 2 hour hike, not the 3-5hours they advise on), which is quite tiny, and it has to be seen to be believed. It is barely bigger than the average outhouse and it's quite cool to see. Past knee-deep snow at the top covering all the scree and boulders made it nasty with our approach shoes but we survived. The climb is steep and more sustained than others with that grade I thought, but plenty of loose rock, and not that impressive as a whole. Thankfully it's in the sun from the morning!

Jim Voss and I climbed this route in one long day car to car. I remember the climbing being fairly sustained in the 5.6 range, and well-protected. The several rappels down the snow and ice filled gully, including one rappel in (yes, in) a waterfall had all the markings of a Scottish Highlands experience (without the Scotch Whiskey). A full and thoroughly enjoyable day.

Dave Edgar and I teamed up to climb Eisenhower Tower on the south portion of the mountain. Start out on Rockbound Lake Trail and then venture off to the left to gain the SW ridge. We took less than 4 hours from the parking lot to the summit via the south skyline and dragon's back. About 9 full pitches total, but you can use some running belay. We moved fast due to inclement weather (Temple snowed in this day). There was still a snow patch on the rappel route (covering one station) which was slightly west from our ascent route. Early morning on the trail we were treated to a Fisher (weasel family). We had a great look at him. Very gray Hoary Marmot on way up as well. A bald eagle soared and screamed from below to above us as we were on the rock giving us great views as it caught the streams. And we were buzzed no less than 5 times by search and rescue as they searched in vain for a missing small aircraft (never found!). An osprey is nesting and feeding its young on the bridge over the Bow River. A golden mantle squirrel chewed on Dave's backpack as we suited up. It was just a wildlife sort of day. We had a great view of Pilot Mountain despite cloud cover.

Steve Fedyna and I climbed it again in July, 2004, switching leads. Enjoying the weather and each other's company, we took 12 hours versus the 8 that Dave and I accomplished. So plan on variation in times. Steve and I used 2 ropes for 60 meter rappels, but I suggest 1 rope for weight and the lack of steepness of the pitches. The rappel is straight west from where you top out on the route. You will find 2 solid bolts by scrambling down 5-10 meters off the southwest edge. You can go right or left at several locations on the ascent, I prefer to stay right. Avoid the water worn gully.